32' Oldsmobile Deluxe Convertible Roadster

[chistech]

All 32’ deluxe Olds appear to have come with WW tires. If you look at my avatar, it shows an all black wood wheeled roaster with WWs. If you google 32’ Olds cars, you will see all factory photos of 6 wheel cars and all have WW tires. I know many have personal tastes and many don’t like WW. I even had a conversation via a forum posting where a few argued with me that by 1932’ WW tires were only added by the owners and not supplied by the factory. Of course, after I showed factory pictures, they seem to forget how to use their keyboard. With the car having the white door saddles and extensive white pin striping on the car, I believe the car will look great and with another contrasting color combo. Even my friend who owns a 32’ Olds coupe is not big on the door saddles being painted even though that is factory correct. As I said, to each their own opinion.

[chistech]

As most everyone knows, I’ve never done much finish body work or really painted much leaving that to those much more skilled than I. Getting things painted has been a problem for me and even though recently I found a reliable guy, his full time job has been extremely busy and he’s been unable to get here as often as he was. Having been around the work enough and doing things like red padding things, wet sanding, etch priming with a gun, etc., I decided I needed to do more on my Olds and trust myself more on my abilities. So over the last two nights, I applied a guide coat, then wet sanded down with 600, the two rear fenders and deck lid. They are now prepped for top coat. I also worked on all four hood panels sanding down some small areas where glaze was put on to fill pits then red padding all the etch primer on the panels. I hung two panels on my paint rack and used a couple stands for the other panels setting them up in the booth. Mixed up some urethane primer and then sprayed it on. I need a little more practice mixing/thinning as the primer was just a tad thick and didn’t flow or lay down as wet as I wanted but no big deal as it will all get guide coated the wet sanded down. Saw a couple very tiny area that will need some spot putty but over my amateur work looked good in the angles of light. Of course it doesn’t hurt having an extremely straight car to start with.

 

On another note: I-have to say there was a few skeptics with the whole inflatable paint booth experiment but I’m glad I go with my own research rather than letting unknowledgable advice scare me away from an idea. This booth has worked out so great so far.

[Spinneyhill]

12 hours ago, chistech said:

All 32’ deluxe Olds appear to have come with WW tires.

OK, I am off me soap box now. Looking forward to seeing it.

[chistech]

3 hours ago, Spinneyhill said:

OK, I am off me soap box now. Looking forward to seeing it.

No problem with your soapbox and didn’t mean my reply that way. I meant it as I’ve extensively researched this car and with my goal it being as close to OEM as possible, I’m staying with the WWs. Actually, on the deluxe cars, it appears anyone who installs a black wall would be doing as taste rather than OEM yet the WW was still considered an option. Meaning either way the car would be correct by judging standards. My friend Joe who's meticulously restoring his 32’ Deluxe Olds coupe, is going with black walls. I have a friend who CG’d my car with both options and I felt the black wall didn’t look as well with the bottom of the car appearing too dark and the white door saddles being lost so to say to no other like color on the car (the fine pinstripes are hard to see at twenty feet and intended that way). If I had gone with a triple black car, (body, roof, interior) I’m willing to bet that overall dark look would have bolstered the argument for black walls but my car has a saddle brown interior and tan roof which looked better in the computer drawings with the WW. Some people just prefer a overall darker look. Perhaps it’s for this reason some don’t like painting the door saddles as they also prefer black walls on their car. 

 

As a side note: the factory promo photo in my avatar shows no painted saddles or pinstripes when it’s enlarged. This happened very often in pre-production pictures. Makes you wonder if even the Olds designers were thinking about whether to paint those saddles. Of course, on all later production models, the saddles were painted the corresponding color for the main body color.

[John S.]

Ted, I am happy to read, that you have Hershey in mind as your target date.  Hope you get there. I would love to see the Olds and meet you in person. This has been a great ride to follow. I agree with you on the White Wall tires.It will balance the look of car out. Thanks. John

[chistech]

 Gilly and his brother bob came today to sand and buff the body. It’s really hard to see much difference in the pictures but I can just say, wow, it really looks good now. Gilly is scheduled to come tomorrow to paint and clear all remaining parts but his mom is not doing well and is in the hospital. Family comes first so I’m not sure what tomorrow holds.

[GARY F]

Black is beautiful.  Great paint.

[chistech]

Started doing some small things that I can do to keep moving forward. Until the painting is done on the Olds parts, the booth stays up limiting my ability to work on my customers truck and setting the Olds body on the chassis. Hopefully the painting will be done in a weeks time. 

    Installed the three rear deck roof supports with thin rubber washers. Reinstalled the golf bag door lock and installed the doors interior panel. Just about have the firewall all squared away on the inside so I can install the firewall padding and panel.

[chistech]

Installed the parcel tray upholstery tonight. Because of the way the tray gets covered and the layers of material get applied. My newly made tray front board needed both end trimmed very slightly and it’s thickness needed about a 1/16 planed off the back side. Once that was done, it fit in perfectly with its covering. Need to start covering the top bows now then installing them as nothing else can be installed until they are in place. There are small interior pieces that have to be added to the sockets where the hinges of the bows get mounted. Lots of fine trimming, regluing, and fitting work in this area.

[Laughing Coyote]

That color material looks very classy against the black body.  Well done, can't wait to see it all finished.

[John S.]

Can"t say enough about the Olds. This is soooooo nice! Going to be something. Ted. John

[chistech]

Finished trimming up the side pieces for the hinge sockets then reglued the vinyl down on the pieces. Fit everything in and bolted down the hinge frames. Had to trim some of the wood on the sides of the new pillars I had made because things were fitting too tight. With the hinges in place and the sockets all set, I started on the bows. Turned the rear bow cloth covers inside out as they come in the Hampton Coach kit as sewn the the hem to the outside. Turning them opposite puts the hem to the inside and smooths the covers on the bow.  The covers get slipped on from each end over the bow iron until the cover snugs up tight against the bow. The seam is positioned to the outside edge of the bow and each cover gets stapled on with the center joint overlapping. The mid bow gets two bow drill covered cardboard ends and two across the top. All gets trimmed and the tacked down. I installed the two wedges of rubber I made a mold for a while back and the two thin rubber bow bottom plates. Assembled the bows onto the hinges and all is good. Now the rear quarter interior pieces can be fitted, the inner socket covers glued to the quarter top flaps, then the quarters tacked in. 

[chistech]

More pictures 

Edited June 13, 2019 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

Continued working on the interior rear quarter sections. Found both latch pillar windlaces were sewn incorrectly and I had to remove the latch area filler panel (extra material sewn to the windlace in the latch area). I used upholstery adhesive to apply the double thickness of material in the right area on the windlace. Because the Cabriolet latch pillar windlace is finished end sewn on the top end, there is only one position the windlace can be put in unlike the closed cars where both ends are open and there is no defined end on which you have to start. This is the first Cabriolet I’ve upholstered and it’s little things like this where I would work with Lebarron Bonney in the past to correct them for future kits. I do at least have to say I’m lucky I got my kit as it was finished about two months before they closed. I ended up getting the whole passenger side in tonight after work. Will work on the drivers tomorrow. One small piece of my research on my car showed a washer held in place with a split rivet at the top of the latch pillar cover on each side. Every other Cabriolet I’ve looked at has had screws in this location as the interior instructions suggest. I realized my split rivet and washers were  without doubt, the original fasteners used to secure the quarter panel upholstery to the top of the pillar post cover. Because the bow irons are so close to the socket sides, using a screw and nut doesn’t leave much room to clear the iron. Putting the split rivet from the inside of the socket leaves plenty of clearance from the rivet head. I used my original washers, polished up by my neighbor, with new nickeled rivets. 

[chistech]

Couple more pictures. You can see the rivet head in one picture. Makes a ton of sense why they used the rivet and washer method. Also installed the quarter filler strip that covers the 2” wide vertical parcel try support. Unseen in the picture is the back of this vertical support also has a finished panel tacked to it as it’s easily in open view when the golf bag door is open.

[chistech]

Finished up the drivers side rear quarter upholstery then made up golf bag door inner framework upholstery from paper patterns made from some original upholstery and sent to me by my buddy Joe. Traced the patterns onto interior fiber board, then using upholstery adhesive, attached some vinyl to the fiber board, and glued down the edges. Installed the two pieces around the GB door. Started prepping the windshield header for installation of the interior pieces by nailing the center metal section on both edges  and installing all screws in the header end brackets. Installed the header on the windshield frame to find the DS wouldn’t go all the way down on the windshield post. Turns out the wood was not routered down deep enough so using a proper diameter Forster bit, drilled the hole slightly deeper so itnow sit down correctly on the WS frame. Tomorrow I’ll apply the interior and exterior lacing to the header along with the rear face, bow drill cloth covered fiber board. Had a new windshield glass made up at the glazier and will try and install it tomorrow if I have time. Installed the chrome T bolt escutcheon plates that I had cast up a while back. Most these escutcheons are missing for some reason and no one repops them so I had to make a pattern up and have them cast.

[chistech]

Some more pictures.

[John_Mereness]

On 6/5/2019 at 5:38 PM, chistech said:

All 32’ deluxe Olds appear to have come with WW tires. If you look at my avatar, it shows an all black wood wheeled roaster with WWs. If you google 32’ Olds cars, you will see all factory photos of 6 wheel cars and all have WW tires. I know many have personal tastes and many don’t like WW. I even had a conversation via a forum posting where a few argued with me that by 1932’ WW tires were only added by the owners and not supplied by the factory. Of course, after I showed factory pictures, they seem to forget how to use their keyboard. With the car having the white door saddles and extensive white pin striping on the car, I believe the car will look great and with another contrasting color combo. Even my friend who owns a 32’ Olds coupe is not big on the door saddles being painted even though that is factory correct. As I said, to each their own opinion.

Your car will be stunning - Put your car together and go have some fun driving it. 

[chistech]

Didn’t work on the windshield or header today but decided to work under the dash. Finished bending the oil pressure line to the shape of the cowl trough leaving 14” of oil line on the engine side of the firewall. (Got the measurements on the lines from my buddy Joe) Installed the oil pressure/water temp gauge in my spare gauge frame and connected the oil pressure line to make sure I had enough length to connect it. Unrolled the temp probe off the back of my rebuilt water temperature gauge and ran the line two the back of the firewall, again following the trough but down the drivers side and out through the cowl leaving 12” of probe on the engine side. Then bent over the retaining tabs in each trough to hold the wiring and all tubing in place. With the help of my wife, I installed the cowl insulation pad using 1/4 dowels as guide pins. Making sure it fit correctly, I then put the firewall pad board in place over the insulation and one by one, we installed the original fasteners which are actually large head paper fasteners. I would push the through from the inside and while holding pressure on the head, my wife would bend over each leg. Once all ten fasteners were in, I installed my Harrison Senior heater in the hole I had already drilled based on the Olds technical bulletin. Got that bolted down tight and put on the decarbonizer button escutcheon plate under the heater. To put the insulation pad and board in, I had to pull the shock control handle back as it goes through the pad. Pushed the handle back through the pad and installed the cotter pin which holds pressure on the friction spring behind the dash.  All the work under the dash took a ton of time today but it came out good. Still need to secure up the electronic directional box than I had wired in as part of my new harness and make up a mount for the two way, momentary switch. I’ll be mounting the switch just out of sight under the left of the dash but assessable with my left hand to facilitate operation while driving. I installed the engine side of the cowl shock linkage on the end of the dash control rod and the passenger side pivot pin. With the linkage in place, it’s easyto see how critical the location of the heater is. The water lines and mounting bolts just clear the decarbonizer and shock control rods. Ends up being a pretty tidy package.

[chistech]

Few more pictures. Because I had a few questions about the shock handle on the dash, I thought the pictures would help people understand how it’s setup. The down rods are attached to bell cranks that move both the front and rear shock valves at the same time.

Edited June 16, 2019 by chistech (see edit history)

[Taylormade]

Did you make the firewall pad and board?  Looking to do my 32 Dodge.  I have the old board and pad, but they are soaked with mice urine.  

[chistech]

9 hours ago, Taylormade said:

Did you make the firewall pad and board?  Looking to do my 32 Dodge.  I have the old board and pad, but they are soaked with mice urine.  

Yes I made my own by copying my original onto a brown finished interior boards. You can get black board from most interior shops or you can get a matching material and cover the board. The jute behind is another story. The original, which I used, is dense and doesn’t crush too easily. The new, reclaimed Automotive padding they sell these days is too soft and though I cut a new pad out of it, I opted to reuse the original. I hadn’t been able to come up with a suitable material to replace my original but I did have a friend give me a very good idea. They make a hard felt, center reinforced pad for horseback riding. Mainly, those pads are used by ropers under their large saddle. I would imagine one of the pad makers could be contacted and see what they would do for you. They are not cheap but what is these days.

[Taylormade]

Thanks.  I’ve been trying to figure out a solution for some time.

[John_Mereness]

5 minutes ago, Taylormade said:

Thanks.  I’ve been trying to figure out a solution for some time.

Try quiet ride solutions - they have made several pads for me know both off the shelf and custom order.   Correct about the backing though being somewhat of a challenge to duplicate the original density 

[chistech]

Well, I’ve been having a good run with everything I’ve been doing with no real hiccups so I knew it was bound to end. Sure enough today I went to install my new windshield. The glazier did a great job cutting the glass exactly to my pattern. After I tapped on the top of the frame, I cut setting tape a took the glass over to the car and put the frame together. Long story short is a missed a rough piece of copper slag still in the bottom of the passenger side windshield post. When I tightened in the knob to just about tight, it put a small 1/2 crack in the very corner. Then I realized I screwed up anyway and had the frame header inside out so I flipped the whole glass by pulling it off the ends. When I tightened the knobs again, POW, it really cracked. $90 down the drain. Got to have a new one cut now.

 

Decided to keep going on stuff so next was covering the windshield bow with the outside front windlace, the inside small windlace, and then the inside vertical bowdrill panel. The bow header gasket is a generic GM gasket made for early cars so it’s longer than needed for my Olds because it’s made long enough to fit on Cadillac cars. In typical GM fashion, all mounting holes are in the same location and all that’s needed is to cut the gasket exactly in half and glue it back together with super glue. Drilled the bow for all the mounting screws and put them in.  Installed the header back on the windshield and tightened up the two bolts that secure the folding irons to the mid bow. Both Landau arms pivot too freely on their hinge pins which are hollow so I used a large tapered alignment pin and in my hydraulic press, expanded the hollow hinge pin. I also made up a couple friction washers to help put drag on the arms. Nothing I hate more than to see a Cabriolet with saggy landau bars. Installed the upper roof frames in each doorway. These are repopped units as mine were missing but they fit perfectly. Both got small pieces of rubber riveted  at the rear where they are tightened to the mid bow with the thumb screws. With all the pieces installed and all thumb screws tightened, the roof frame work is amazingly ridged and solid. Tacked on the three straps the hold the rear window flap up if wanted. These three straps also hold and determine the position of the rear bow. The LB instructions say to put a level across the windshield frame to the rear bow and if level, the rear bow and mid bow should be 16” apart. Of course, using this method means the car sills have to be level too. Haven’t gone any further as of this step.

[chistech]

More pictures.

Edited June 17, 2019 by chistech (see edit history)

[chistech]

A few more.

[chistech]

I know it seems like I've posted a lot of pictures of the same thing but there are differences in each picture. The reason I'm doing this is that most GM cabriolet models are either exactly or very close to this Olds and I can currently find no pictures or help about installing a cabriolet interior and roof. My thought with all this documentation is down the road, someone doing their own cabriolet can use my thread for reference. With my goal of OEM authenticity, it can be used for someone wanting a show car and those just doing a driver. When it comes to authenticity, one item often overlooked when the original interior is replaced is the two belt rail footman loops. These loops are mounted on the top of the belt rail close to each end of the parcel tray front board. I remembered removing them from my car which other than one single piece of belt rail wood, was all original. I inquired with other 31'-32' cabriolet owners and most had no knowledge of the footman loops, yet one owner replied saying he owned a fully original interior car and he also had the footman loops. He has no knowledge of what they're for though. They are currently being polished and will be installed soon so I'll pictures shortly.

      Looking at my original beltline wood, I'm able to locate the exact position for the loops. They run parallel to the roof bows and are located just 3/4" in from the inside beltline edge. When the roof is folded down, it's easy to see what the loops are intended to do. A strap would be put through the loop and put around the chrome folding roof iron that connects the mid bow to the windshield bow. Strapping these irons down prevents them from bouncing on the beltline interior, top of the parcel tray, and the rear deck roof supports. Another strange item my car had that no one else seems to have is the wedge shaped rubber pieces attached to the rear bottom ends of the mid bow. While the first impression is these are some sort of bumpers, I believe I now understand their purpose. The outside edge of the wedges is even with the outside edge of the bow. When the roof gets tacked or stapled to the bottom of the mid bow and fastened to the car body, there is an area or gap in the very bottom corner near the rear of the top of door where it is not tacked at all. The reason for this is allow the roof to fold down so it has to be free in this area. I now realize that these rubber wedges keep the untacked corner of the roof taught in this area and do not allow the bottom edge to wrinkle in, allowing any rain water from entering the car, especially down through the hinge socket and also keep the roof from folding in and getting pinched possibly at the hinge joint. I'm willing to bet many other GM cabriolets had these wedges but they've long been lost to father time.  Just a couple more forensic things I’ve discovered.

 

looking at the pictures, you can see the wedges and their alignment with the edge and location above the hinge socket.

Edited June 17, 2019 by chistech
Added pictures (see edit history)

[chistech]

A while back I posted some pictures of the scale radio control dauntless dive bomber airplane I was finishing up. I finally got to fly it when I was away in SC. Here is a professional YouTube video made by a fellow modeler. It flew very well and this is the second flight. Just after liftoff the engine sagged some and it appears that it's out of trim as its porpoising some but it cleared out. I also climbed out a little steeper than normal as I was trying to clear the air space over the runway as 6 planes in the air at one time doing high speed low passes and most flying much faster than me plus much larger than me kept me on my toes.  The landing is faster than intended as we had called for my landing and I had the right of way but evidently a turbine pilot didn't follow the rules and was coming in right behind and above me which you can't see in the video. I stayed in close to the pilot stations and stuck it on the ground. It started to head to close to the pilot station and other aircraft on the ground so I ground looped it to stop it. No damage and it flies great. 

 

 

[chistech]

Finished up setting the height of the rear bow and tacked all three straps. Put the rear window in the rear curtain. The rear curtain is two layers of T39 Hartz roof material. First you center position the frame where it should be and in my case, the window center is one inch high on the curtains center measurements, then you mark the screw and frame pin locations. You then punch out all the marks and lay the curtain, outside down, over the outside chrome frame. You then spread the two layers of material and put the glass inside, within all the pins. You then lay the inside layer of curtain down, put the inside frame in position, and put in the screws. I slowly tightened the screws working from the center of the frame working out alternating tightening the screws much like a cylinder head torque pattern. I kept turning the screws like this until all were good and snug. Using an Xacto knife and the frame as a guide, cut out the center material. It’s a shame Lebarron Bonney is gone because this roof kit and the interior so far has been very impressive and almost spot on with just minor trimming needed.

      I then stapled and tacked in the parcel tray to seat frame bellows material. I used an old piece of bamboo half round under the end that’s fastened to the parcel tray top to get a nice round effect as described in the directions. Then ends are brought down to the belt rail and are “tented” so the front edge stays up. The reason for this is when the seat is moved from full front position to full rear position, the rear of the seat tucks under the leading edge of the bellows. This material closes off the space between the seat and parcel tray so there is no visible gap.

     I then installed the top beltrail panels and the infamous footman loops I posted about earlier. Real happy with the way this whole thing finished up. This area is done now until the seat goes in. 

[chistech]

I realized that in order to put the roof on correctly, I needed to remove the two Landau arm studs in the mid bow. Then I panicked as I had not ever removed then and was afraid they would not loosen from the frame. Using a good 6 point box wrench, I was able to break both of them free without much trouble. A 9/16 x 12 tap and die cleaned up all the threads. I realized today what I’m sure J Puleo has thought about, that all these tools I’ve accumulated and use in my life will probably end up going to the scrap yard as no one will know how to use them in the near future. Even things as simple as taps and dies are foreign to so many of today’s “men”.

      Put in all the rear interior panels and then started installing the belt line cording around the bottom edge. When putting the cording around the belt line, one has to remember that the center window flap, when raised, exposes the cording so don’t staple or take the center section through both layers. Spread the layers and staple the inside to the wood. Staple two rows worth, one low and one about a 1/4” from the top. Later, I will stitch the outside layer top edge to the inside edge so the cording appears nice and neat. Of course, all five rear curtain fasteners are mounted in the belt line cording also but at least the top edge will be nice and secure.

 

      I will start installing the roof tomorrow. Putting on the roof is so much easier with body off the chassis. I’m not worried about shimming the car later once it is mounted on the frame and it affecting the roof because the whole roof framing is solid because of the way the framework goes together. When I’m done with the roof, the body will be pretty complete when it’s dropped onto the frame with the dash and doors being the major components needing to be done. I’m curious if the bodies were fairly complete when they were put on the chassis in the factory.

Edited June 18, 2019 by chistech (see edit history)

[BearsFan315]

car is looking good Ted and coming along nicely !!

 

that wood floor looks like a museum show piece

[jan arnett (2)]

I know what you mean about tools.  Sometimes I have to ask my self what a tool is for and then when I need it I can't find it.  I also have to ask if the tool is for a car or jet engine.

[chistech]

I just put the floor in it for the pictures and I was looking at how I’m going to cut the drivers side of the main floor board to fit the battery floor plate I made up. So my nice varnished floorboards are going to get a big cut out in them. Then I’ll have to varnish the edges again. The floor boards also had anti-squeak under them, tacked to the sill. That material is impossible to find these days as everything seems to be too thick. Yesterday, I came up with an idea. I’m going to used cloth hockey stick wrapping tape. I’ll put a few layers down and let the adhesive hold it to the metal toe board area. The adhesive is pretty stout on that tape and it’s thin so i should be able to get the desired thickness I want simply by layering it.

 

Sitting here for my real job waiting on a customer who’s late, so I figured I’d type this up. Hate when you make appointments and someone is way late, not just a little which happens to all of us.

[John S.]

Ted, you are really moving along with the restoration. The Olds is coming together nicely. I admire the work that is going into the Oldsmobile. Thanks, John

[chistech]

Thank You John. I hope you'll be going to Hershey this year as I plan to have it there for the show on Saturday. 

[John S.]

Ted, I will be at Hershey this year., God willing and the Creek don't rise. I  am will very much  looking forward to meetimg  you and  seeing the Oldsmobile at the show on Saturday. I appreciate you posting the restoration, making us ,in some small way,  a part of it.  Watching your  '32 being restored is one of the highlights  on thie AACA Forum. Thanks, as always. John

[Kestrel]

Whoa ! Anti-squeak ?? Wait a minute. I thought all wooden bodied cars are supposed to squeak. You want that Olds to sound original, don't you ?

My '32 Chevy groans and squeals like a pig going down the road. Leave that fancy hockey stick tape on the shelf. Let the car sing to you. 🤪

 

Seriously, superb job !

 

Charlie

 

[chistech]

42 minutes ago, Kestrel said:

Whoa ! Anti-squeak ?? Wait a minute. I thought all wooden bodied cars are supposed to squeak. You want that Olds to sound original, don't you ?

My '32 Chevy groans and squeals like a pig going down the road. Leave that fancy hockey stick tape on the shelf. Let the car sing to you. 🤪

 

Seriously, superb job !

 

Charlie

 

Hey, my 31’ is so loud with noises I can’t hear the radio. Wait..............., I don’t have a radio. No wonder I can’t hear it! I all honesty, I do suspect this Olds will be much quieter for a few reasons. One is the flathead engine which runs superbly (so far anyway) and you can barely hear it running. The engine and trans are rubber mounted with the bell housing having  a rubber cushioned torque rod. The driveshaft is an exposed one rather than a torque tube type which radiates noise from the rear and driveline. 8” longer wheel base and larger tires should also help quiet the ride. The firewall pad is also 1” thick heavy jute so it should keep the cabin quieter. 

      All this is good as this car WILL have a radio eventually as I have an original Oldsmobile factory radio that I am having restored with modern internals. 

[chistech]

Didn’t get a lot done today as I needed to install the 5 Cinch fastener eyelets along the bottom of the rear window curtain. Turns out there is a Cinch specific setting tool and when I went to the upholstery shop and used one of his tools, it ruined the eyelet so I need to get some. Looking on the internet it seems the original type Cinch fasteners are not very common anymore and neither is a setting tool. I did find a vendor who has the eyelets and lists a setting tool but it didn’t look correct in the picture. I decided to take an hour and make up my own setting tool and I ended up posting a thread in the general discussion area. Turns out I should have just made my own tool from the start as it works perfectly.

     With three eyelets in the curtain. I tack stapled it on the rearbow to get a look at how it all fits and the rear bow position. Though the Lebarron Bonney instructions say the top of the two bows should be approximately 16” apart when the tops of the bow and windshield header are level, I found I need to raise the bow more bringing the measurement closer to 15 1/4”. I am held up on the roof right now until I get more Cinch eyelets as I need the rear curtain secured in place for putting proper tension on the bows when putting on the side pads and padding. One discrepancy I found with the LB roof kit is all three straps have a Cinch stud on them. The idea is that when the rear curtain is opened and lifted up inside to the straps, then the center and two outside eyelets are put on the studs. The problem is, only the center strap lines up correctly. The two outside straps are just inside of the outside edge of the curtain which will have three snaps installed intended to snap to the-back vertical inside panel of the roof to seal the ends. If these straps have a snap installed on them in the correct location, it will hold the ends up as originally intended. I will correct this issue when I get to that step. At least a good thing is I got the rear window level as can be seen in the picture taken from the front of the car. The bottom of the windshield frame and the rear window are in line with each other.